


Once in a Lifetime

by cottoncandyboys (mik0rin)



Series: Online Dating!AU [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, M/M, Minor Dotae, minor winkun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mik0rin/pseuds/cottoncandyboys
Summary: Taeil and Yoonoh decide to give a chance to a dating website their friends recommended.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so for the first time in ages, i've started writing something and finished on the same day (in less than 6 hours even), i'm very proud of it tbh!!!!! 
> 
> it was written based on a prompt found on tumblr but i won't be putting it in the notes at the beginning or it'll spoil the fic, so if you wanna know which it is, all you have to do is check the notes at the end
> 
> title taken from a one direction song by the same name
> 
>  
> 
> edit: i have decided to write a spin off to this and the otp includes yuta lmao so i tweaked it a bit, sorry pals
> 
> this story is unbetaed because i have to go to sleep now, but i'll be back to check any spelling or grammar mistakes when i have time
> 
> You can read it in Russian [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/5939421)

"What do I do now?" Taeil asks Taeyong when a new field that needs to be filled appears when he clicks _next_. "Interests?"

Taeyong rolls his eyes and pushes Taeil away from the laptop. "Are you for real, my friend?"

His friend huffs and pulls a stool from beside the desk and sits next to Taeyong, eyes glued to the screen.

 _Flowers_. Taeil nods in agreement.

 _Cats_. Sounds about right.

 _Music_. Who didn't like music these days though? Taeil shakes his head and keeps on watching as Taeyong types whatever comes to mind.

 _Kids_. He nods once and stops, eyes going wide.

"That's gonna sound wrong, Tae," Taeil places a hand on top of Taeyong's and makes him delete that part. "You _know_ why I like kids, but I don't want to mention what I do for a living there, so when people find me they're going to be creeped out."

"Fine," Taeyong sighs and presses _next_. "What picture are you going to use in your profile?"

After a whole minute, with Taeyong's breathing down his neck for taking so damn long, Taeil laughs awkwardly and eyes his friend.

"Oh no."

"I didn't even say anything!" Taeil complains and pushes Taeyong softly.

"But I can read it in your face," Taeyong replies with a frown. "You're totally going to ask me to upload a picture of Tigger instead of a picture of you."

Taeil laughs and claps his hands, Taeyong thinks that he is actually wrong, until Taeil places a hand on his shoulders while wiping a fake tear from his eyes. "That's why we're best friends."

"Fuck," Taeyong curses and throws his hands up in the air. "Are you really going to use a picture of your _cat_?"

"Why not?" Taeil questions with genuine hurt in his eyes. "Tigger is a very handsome kitty," the man scoffs and whistles, Taeyong hears a meow and bangs his head on the keyboard and mumbles a _fine, it's your profile, not mine_ whilst Taeil hugs his gingery and fluffy pet. "Use that one picture I like."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Taeyong waves a hand and finishes setting up the profile in the website ("Preferences: men or women?" "....Taeyong"). "I hope you find someone good this time."

"I hope so too," Taeil smiles at him with his eyes closed as he rubs his cat's tummy. "Since you're the one who recommended it to me, I'm believing you," Taeyong smiles softly at him, he ruffles the fur in Tigger's back and sighs. "After all, that's how you met Dongyoung, right?"

Taeyong has a big and fond smile on his face when Taeil mentions his long time boyfriend.

"I have to go now," Taeyong gets up and puts the chair back in place. "Those meals won't get done without me there."

Tigger jumps off Taeil's lap and goes away to lie down on the couch, Taeil gets up and walks Taeyong to the door. "Thanks for all the help."

"Get a proper boyfriend this time," Taeyong hits Taeil's shoulder gently and Taeil stares at his feet, cheeks colored with a faint blush. "I'm tired of kicking their asses for you."

He smiles one last time at his friend before he starts going down the stairs. Taeils closes the door and sighs, walking and sitting down in front of his laptop once again.

"Let's figure out how this works," he tells himself and clicks _match_.

 

 

Yoonoh has that tab on his laptop still open, the device rests on top on his pillow and he strums his guitar before he sighs and decides to put it down on his bed, carefully, he then reaches out for that same laptop and stares at the screen, wondering if he should really listen to what Sicheng had told him at the beginning of the week.

"It's a really good site," he had said and given him one of those smiles with pearly white teeth showing, Yoonoh had brushed the boy off by saying he'd check it out and consider it. "I mean, I found Kun there, am I right?" that statement didn't make him any more confident but he still decided to open and give it a chance, aside that now he still has all the fields empty.

"Interests," he says out loud and sighs, he's not really an interesting person with a lot of hobbies, most of the time Yoonoh just stays locked up inside his apartment, living off of ramyun - although Yoonoh is a damn good cook, he doesn't have the time to spend on making a proper meal - and coffee, fighting off deadlines and days where inspiration just doesn't want to knock on his door. He simply adds a _Music. Books. Silence. Coffee._ before messing his own hair in frustration, writing about yourself shouldn't be so hard, right?

"Preferences?" he runs a hand through his messed up hair and clicks _next_ without checking any option since it allows him to just leave it blank. It's time to choose a profile picture and Yoonoh is really not keen on using a picture of himself, instead, he settles for one he took last week of the sun glazing the white sheets he had put on his bed with his guitar on top of it and against the wall, it's satisfying in his honest opinion. He is already tired of people going after him because of his appearance and would rather meet someone who's interested in who he is.

"There," he tells himself, nodding his head at his profile and shutting the laptop off, he's not in the mood for chatting with anyone right now, he just places the electronic on his nightstand and takes the guitar back in his arms, there's no weight of the dating website glaring at him as he tries to work on a new song.

 

 

"So, how's it going?" Taeyong asks through the phone and Taeil hums, replying with an _okay, I guess_. "Found anyone interesting?"

"Not quite," Taeil sighs and scratches his forehead out of habit. "Actually, I talked to a bunch of different guys and all they ask for is a picture of me."

"Ignore them," Taeyong hisses on the other side of the line and Taeil titters at him, Taeyong is always going to be so protective despite Taeil being older than him. "You have to get rid of the one's who are only looking for something easy and quick."

"What the heck, Tae," Taeil groans and considers hanging up on him. "I wouldn't do this kind of thing okay, it's not like me."

 _Taeyong, the food is burning!_ he hears a shout in the background and Dongyoung screeching. "Shit, I gotta go before he sets the house on fire and it's still only six in the morning, take care."

Taeil drops his cell phone on the couch and considers checking the website to see if he got any new messages, but then he looks at the clock and he barely has time to get ready properly and walk to work. He rushes to his room and grabs a clean change of clothes, running into the bathroom.

 

 

Yoonoh rolls his eyes at the new set of messages he got, most of them are asking him for a picture, others he had already received some indecent invitations and had decided to simply block those idiots and move on.

"This is stupid," he mumbles to himself and is considering just logging out and not do this crap anymore, but before doing anything - after all, he spent 5 precious minutes filling in those ridiculous questions -, he scrolls down the new list of match-ups and, for the first time, he sees someone who doesn't have a proper profile picture like him, it takes him a minute before he clicks on the image and reads the profile quickly. "Should I send a message?"

He thinks about it for a few minutes, opening the chat window and writing down a greeting _hi, i'm jaehyun, nice picture lol_ he rereads the message and notices that it sounds like he's mocking the person and erases it, trying out something simpler like _the cat is cute_ , he grins at the simple yet friendly message and his finger hovers over the _enter_ button for a little more than five seconds before he finally presses it.

Usually, people reply him in less than an hour, Yoonoh finds it weird when more than two had already passed and he still hasn't got any. He sighs, just when he thought that he had found someone normal on that dating website of doom, he throws his body on his bed, feeling a headache coming for him after too many cans of energy drinks. He has to hand out this completed song to Sicheng on the very next day and he still has to get the melody down.

The laptop and the website are forgotten for the next hours, when he hastily tries to finish his work and once he's done, it's already dark outside, he's so drained that all he wants is a hot shower and a plate of _real_ food. "Maybe I should go out to eat something, there's honestly nothing on my fridge," he mumbles under his breath - Yoonoh already has this habit of talking to himself due to the big amount of time he spends by himself, most people would find it weird but he just thinks it's comforting, it prevents him from going insane - and grabs a towel that's hanging on the doorknob of his room.

He runs out of his apartment in a rush and bumps against one of his neighbors, he bows and apologizes, looking up and meeting kind eyes.

"It's fine," the man says and Yoonoh nods, accidentally taking a peek at the apartment right next to his, there are several drawings hanging on the hall and he smiles at them, probably made by the man's child. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he whispers back and covers his head with the hood and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, he doesn't spare another glance at the neighbor, especially because he hears the door closing before he reaches the stairs. "What should I get tonight?"

He settles for Chinese take out, he's too used to eating alone at the comfort of his apartment and the thought of asking for a table for one makes him feel pitiful, he doesn't want to receive this kind of looks from the waiters and customers. He's back home in no time and suddenly remembers the message he sent earlier that day. He runs to get his laptop that was left on his room and places it on top of the table he's currently having his meal, he stares at the still unanswered message and sighs, maybe the person just really doesn't want to talk to him and he's being ignored.

 _That's what I get when I finally decide to initiate conversation_ , he shoves a spoonful of rice inside his mouth rather violently and chokes a little, it gets worse when he hears a beeping sound coming from his laptop and a notification shining on the corner of the page.

"Oh, finally," he pushes the bowl aside and pulls his laptop closer. _do you really think so?_ it reads and Yoonoh covers his mouth when he laughs. "Cute."

 

 **Jaehyun:** _of course, ain't cats supposed to be cute?_

 **Moon:** _i suppose lol_

 **Moon:** _nice picture by the way_

 **Jaehyun:** _don't you think it's rather plain?_

 **Moon:** _it's not like it matters?_

 **Jaehyun:** _it doesn't?_

 **Moon:** _at least not for me lol if i cared about it i'd have used a picture of myself instead_

 **Jaehyun:** _you've got a good point lol_

 **Jaehyun:** _i'm jaehyun as you can already see_

 **Moon:** _you can call me moon, but you probably knew that already xD_

 

Yoonoh laughs to himself, this is the first time ever someone hasn't asked him anything weird or suspicious, like the color of his underwear or what he was doing at the time, he goes from the table back to his room and sits up on his bed, perching the laptop on his knees and spending the rest of his night chatting with _Moon_.

Not too much because apparently Moon has to work early in the morning and bids him a _talk to you later_ before the clock reads midnight.

Yoonoh goes to sleep with a soft smile adorning the corner of his lips, not that anyone's going to see it since his plans for the next day includes only resting since work has drained him so much.

 

 

"You're telling me you _finally_ found someone who didn't just straight up ask for a dick pic?" Dongyoung says from behind the counter and Taeyong sends Taeil a thumbs up from the kitchen. "That's some progress you got there," his friend's boyfriend says. "I remember that when I used that site if I didn't get one of those requests ten times a day, something was off."

"But then you met me!" Taeyong shouts and Dongyoung pretends he doesn't hear him and gives Taeil one of his bright smiles.

"That loser honestly had the worst picture I had seen," Dongyoung explains and Taeil's already trying to imagine which one it was. "Like, he angled his camera below his chest and made a really ugly face, I wonder if anyone aside from me ever messaged him."

Taeil has to support his body on a chair as he laughs whilst imagining Taeyong's face, oh, he remembers that picture, he saw Taeyong taking it and was sure he was actually sending it to a friend - maybe Youngho or Hansol -, but not that he was going to use it on a _dating website_.

"And then he complained that I used a picture of Tigger???" he exclaims, incredulous. Dongyoung shakes his head in amusement and hands Taeil his forgotten change. "Ah, I think I'm going to take it to go tonight."

"Aw, you're not going to make us company," Dongyoung pouts and looks behind to see Taeyong with two plates in hand and a doggie bag inside a white plastic bag held by his teeth. "What the hell, Lee Taeyong!"

Dongyoung takes the doggie bag from him and hands it to Taeil, who stares at it in disgust before accepting it. "Thanks man, I'll pass by more often, I have to go now."

"Gonna talk to your new suitor?" he jokes and Taeil shoots him a look along with Dongyoung.

"Don't tease him like that!" Dongyoung would've hit him in the chest if Taeyong weren't holding two plates with food in hands. "And put those down on the table."

"Let's just eat our dinner so we can close the place up and go home," Taeyong says and sits down, Taeil waves at him before he walks towards the door. "Keep me up to date with anything that happens, I need to keep an eye on you."

"You're not my mom," Taeil huffs at him and Taeyong's already with his mouth full.

"He's right," says Dongyoung, sitting at the opposite side from Taeyong. "I'm your mom, he's your father."

Taeil rolls his eyes before pushing the door open and exiting the restaurant. The _closed_ sign bids him goodbye and the cool night breeze urges him to walk faster to his apartment, it's late and despite not being completely dangerous, Taeil would rather be inside his place, having a nice meal in peace. He runs up the stairs and unlocks his door.

He checks the chat with Jaehyun after he's set the table and pours down some hot tea for himself, there's nothing there and he just sends a small _i hope your day went well_ , finishes eating and heads to the bathroom, ready for a hot well deserved shower and the thought of sleeping or simply resting in a bundle of warm covers makes him do everything two times faster.

 

 

The moment Yoonoh opens his eyes, he's surprised to see that the day is almost ending, when he told himself the previous day that he'd just sleep, he didn't actually mean it like that, but there he is, still in bed, nurturing a ridiculous headache because he had slept too much. He groans when he gets up and runs a hand through his hair, it feels disgusting and he desperately needs a shower, he's about to leave his room when he remembers that Moon might've sent him a message and he runs to open his laptop and login into the website.

He reads it with a smile on his face, despite not showing a single sign of life during the whole day, Moon still sends him a - very cute, very adorable - message and Yoonoh doesn't hesitate to reply, maybe he can still catch Moon awake.

But the gross feeling of sweat and dirtied hair is enough to force him out of his room and into the bathroom, the shower doesn't take long and he's soon back to his bedroom, hair damp against his forehead and towel draped around his waist.

 

 **Moon:** _today's friday, i don't have work tomorrow_

 **Jaehyun:** _me neither_

 

For a moment, Yoonoh wonders if he should tell Moon something about him that isn't obvious, maybe something about his work or other things.

 

 **Jaehyun:** _my name's not actually jaehyun lol_

 

Oh shit, he panics, he wasn't going to write that but he fucked it up without noticing and now he already sent it and Moon is probably reading it and considering not talking to him anymore.

 

 **Moon:** _lol that's okay, it's not like moon is my first name or anything_

 **Jaehyun:** _you're right, after all, i do use jaehyun for my work and all_

 **Moon:** _....._

 **Moon:** _you're not like, a stripper or something like that, are you?_

 

A snort escapes Yoonoh and he has to cover his mouth so his neighbors won't hear him being graceless in the middle of the night, especially since basically nobody in the apartment complex actually _knows_ who he is, since he never leaves his house aside from the days he goes out to have meetings with Sicheng or buy some food.

 

 **Jaehyun:** _aren't you curious to know what's my real name or what i do for a living?_

 **Moon:** _is it going to make me see you differently? you didn't answer me….so you're really a stripper, aren't you?_

 **Jaehyun:** _WHAT? NO, I AM NOT A STRIPPER!!!!!_

 **Jaehyun:** _i'm a composer_

 **Moon:** _oh really? wow that's so cool_

 **Moon:** _i'm just a kindergarten teacher, it's kinda lame tbh_

 **Jaehyun:** _oh and my name's yoonoh, but you can call me jaehyun if you want to! that's how it appears in the credits of songs anyway_

 **Moon:** _so you're really a composer, huh?_

 **Jaehyun:** _were you doubting me?? i never lie!!!_

 **Moon:** _haha okay okay_

 **Moon:** _i'm taeil~_

 

And just like that, Yoonoh spends the rest of his night chatting his time away with Moon - _Taeil_ \- and a smile finds its permanent place on his lips.

 

 

"He's really nice!" Taeil tells Taeyong through the phone again. "It looks like he's a composer and all of that."

"How can you verify such a thing?" he questions and Taeil sighs at the way his friend is bombarding him with questions the moment he started talking to him about Yoonoh. "He even lied to you about his name, he can lie about many other things."

"Oh, for God's sake, Tae," Taeil runs a hand through his hair and flops down on the couch. "Why are you like this? It's not like I told him my name right away."

There's silence at the other side of the line and Taeil feels the victory surfacing as Taeyong takes longer to answer him.

"You're right," he finally says and Taeil holds back the urge to scream _I told you so_. "So, any plans of meeting up with him offline?"

"Offline?" Taeil asks more to himself than to Taeyong. "Like, in real life?"

"Well, of course??" Taeyong raises his voice at him. "Do you expect to date him over the internet and never meet face to face?"

Now it's Taeil's turn to stay silent.

"Now, you stay there, I'll be going over to talk to you in person, it's too complicated to do it over the phone," and before Taeil can oppose to the idea, the line is already dead and Taeil buries his face on the cushion in front of him. Tigger jumps on his back and lies down comfortably and Taeil doesn't take too long to fall asleep because he didn't want to get up and wake his cat up.

 

 

A banging on the neighbor's door jolts Yoonoh awake, he looks at his surroundings, scared; for a moment he thought someone was trying to barge into his apartment, but he hears someone yelling on the corridor, he can't make out what's being said, that's why he cautiously tiptoes until he can lean his right ear against the door.

"Moon Taeil, open this door at this exact moment," says a male voice and Yoonoh is agape, he twists his key and pokes his head out of the door. "Moon Tae-"

The man yelling turns his head at Yoonoh's face and stares for five full seconds before he raises a finger and nears him.

"Who are you?" he asks Yoonoh and he tilts his head, he looks confused.

"I'm Jung Yoonoh," he replies and the man's eyes go wide when the information sinks in, Yoonoh mimics his expression. "Are you fucking _kidding_ me?" he turns back to the door and slams his fists on it with much more strength than before.

"Moon Taeil, bring your ass over here right now, I am going to murder you if you take more time to open this door. I know you're home, we just talked on the phone."

Both men stay silent for a minute and shuffling inside the apartment is heard, there's the sound of a key being turned and two eyes appear at the space between the frame and the door itself. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Tae?" the man behind the door - _Taeil_ \- says, calmly. "Are you trying to destroy my front door, you moron."

"Why the hell weren't you opening it, I have been knocking on it for more than five minutes!"

"Excuse me," Yoonoh says from where he is. "You've been banging on it for no more than three minutes."

"See!!" Taeil huffs and opens the door properly, leaning against the frame and glaring at his friend one last time before he turns to Yoonoh. "I was sleeping, you twat. And may I ask who you are?"

"I'm your neighbor," he answers with a smile, he feels his face suddenly growing warmer and the palm of his hands sweating. "Yo-Yoonoh."

" _See!!_ " the man repeats Taeil's words from earlier and gets a kick on the side of his leg from Taeil. "Is this what I get for being a good friend?"

"Shut up, Lee Taeyong," Taeil ends up laughing. "Oh my God, are you like, Yoonoh, _that_ Yoonoh?"

"I think so?" Yoonoh answers, not able to hide his smile, Taeil is a lot more handsome than he had imagined him to be, the twinkling in his eyes when he smiles at him makes his breath hitch. "If you're Moon and Taeil, then yes."

Taeyong silently backs away from the scene and runs down the stairs, ready to break the news to Dongyoung.

"I'm Moon Taeil, nice to meet you," Taeil says with a grin and extends his hand. "I'm glad you liked my cat, do you want to meet him?"

"Jung Yoonoh," he takes the hand and shakes it, holding it for longer than it is accepted to be just a friendly handshake. "What's his name?"

"Tigger!" Taeil replies excitedly calling for his cat and Yoonoh stares at him with fondness.

He sees the gingery cat and coos at it when Taeil pets it behind its ear. "Definitely cute," Yoonoh says and Taeil beams at him _just like his owner_ he says in a whisper and coughs to cover it up the slip of his tongue. "Uh," he rubs the back of his neck, a little unsure of what he wants to say. "Do you, perhaps, want to go out with me?"

Taeil puts the cat down on the floor and looks at him, his cheeks heating up a little but nods his head and Yoonoh would've done a somersault right there if it weren't something so impossible.

 

 

Later that day, Taeils phone is bombarded with new messages from either Dongyoung or Taeyong.

 

_Did you already get laid?_

_Use protection_

_Please, don't forget to introduce your boyfriend to me!!!!!!_

 

And the exact same thing is happening to Yoonoh on the other side of the wall, with Sicheng asking him a bunch of different questions.

 

_I knew you'd find someone_

_by the way, how's the new song coming out?_

_do you wanna go on a double date with me and kun?_

 

Both sigh at their respective apartments and Yoonoh sends Taeil a message with a smile on his face.

_Wanna go out for dinner tonight?_

Taeil replies with a _yes_ and closes his eyes, hugging Tigger closer as the cat meows and licks his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: [_holy crap you live like, next door?? (and you’re pretty cute too bonus) Online Dating Website AU_](http://shittyaus.tumblr.com/post/135669609895)
> 
>  
> 
> sorry for any holes i left  
>  
> 
> Thanks a lot for reading \o/


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